Paradoxes and Pamphlets
by RoweanWrites
Summary: Set right after the Final battle, and ignoring the epilogue, Harry and Hermione try to find their way into the future. Letters come in from employers and schools in multiple countries who have heard their stories. Without exactly planning it, they find themselves on a growing adventure of a new kind. One to find themselves and maybe each other. (H/Hr, D/G on the side)
1. Chapter 1

Hermione noticed she had been staring out the window at the puddle forming in her parent's back yard for the better part of five minutes. She heaved a sigh and finally accepted that she wouldn't accomplish much in her father's study. A strong, surreal feeling kept reminding her that this house was no longer her home.

She began packing up her things, slipping her journal and a stack of pamphlets into her sack, pausing for a moment to look at the newest photo of her best friends. Their faces were laughing and locked in an exchange. Hermione smiled at the feel the warm embrace of the wind as it had been two days ago at the photoshoot. She watched the gentle glitter of tourmaline waves on the horizon and the way Harry's hair moved in the breeze.

A low whirring and bell-like chiming sounded to her left-her wards had been activated by a wizard approaching the Granger residence. Hermione's hand stopped mid-hover above picture Harry's forehead and she glanced at the tiny spinning telescope on the desk. She grabbed it just as it fell from the desk and snatched it up to her eyes. Her reflexes had certainly been made faster through the war.

Her heart skipped a beat as Harry's face appeared in her tiny lens. She hadn't been expecting him, why had he come? It wasn't at all like Harry to drop by unannounced.

The doorbell rang as she was on her way out of the study.

" 'My-oh-nee!" She heard her mother's call filter through the living room. Of course, her mother had opened the door again without consulting the telescope, but she supposed it was a bit of lost cause. She had almost given up on insisting her parents to use magical objects even in light of the considerable security they added.

As she stepped into the living room, Harry was finishing his greetings to her mother and turning towards her. She smiled and stopped walking.

His eyes fell on her and she became aware of her heartbeat.

"Hi," he said, a slight grin on his face.

Was it just her, or did his voice seem a little lower, softer, maybe?

"Hello Harry," she returned, still standing half the room away.

He took a few more steps toward her and paused. "I know this is unusual," he started, glancing down. "I've been so restless bouncing between cleaning out Grimmauld Place and the Burrow. Can we go somewhere?"

Hermione nodded, "Ok, I'll just get my bag." It was a mark of their friendship that she didn't even inquire about his plans. But a new light and anxious feeling overtook her as she walked up the stairs. It wasn't like Harry to show up without an emergency, but then again, they were never able to show up unannounced before. And it wasn't like her mum and dad were on the Floo network.

She glanced at him on the way back down the stairs and Harry stood. He made it to the door a stride ahead and reached his arm out to open the way for them.

From outside, a light rain fell into her clothing and splattered tiny spots on her arm as she watched him on the stoop. He whispered a covert locking charm and he descended toward her, watching his step on the unfamiliar concrete risers.

It was equally foreign and natural to see him in front of her childhood home. From the distance, her eyes momentarily caught on the places his t-shirt clung to his chest.

"Want to go?" he asked simply when he was standing just beyond the small manicured hedge that marked the boundary of her wards.

"Um, yes," She grabbed his arm and he apparated away. His green eyes locked into her brown ones while the world spun around them.

The spinning slowed and she glanced around. They were behind a magnolia bush in some sort of muggle public grounds.

Harry lowered his arm and she pulled away shifting slightly from him they stepped out from their secluded place. It was not raining here and a small child almost ran into her as she followed Harry forward. She saw some of the tallest trees she had seen in a while, and a neat stone castle that would be dwarfed by Hogwarts but commanded the attention of it's elegant and peaceful grounds.

He had been leading them to a bench that overlooked the Peacock gardens and the field leading up to the castle. She sat down next to him, the sun's filtered rays lighting specks of her skin.

"Where are we, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"This? I don't remember the name. Some muggle Castle near London. The Dursleys took me here a few times."

"It's beautiful," she said mildly, the breeze flicking her hair around lightly.

She noticed his eyes trained on her and glanced across at him. He looked away.

"It's been a strange couple of days, being back from everything" he said.

"It has been." she said solemnly.

"Nothing feels like it's going back to normal. It's all too quiet and still. You know, I almost wish we could still be fighting Voldemort."

She laughed. After a moment, she said "I guess we got used to a different normal."

"Yeah, for seven years," he agreed. "Somehow Ron is completely at peace now."

His afterthought got her thinking. A few had shared in the discomfort for the new normal, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, even Oliver Wood had mentioned the feeling at a victory celebration. But now they all seemed to be grounded in the now. Ron especially was content to idle away his summer and work with Fred in the shop. Even their mourning seemed to drive them into the future. But she couldn't seem wrap her head around the future.

"You know, sometimes I just get lost in it all and I have this strange feeling that my life is starting over but-"

"But you don't know where to start," he finished.

"Exactly." And then after a moment she pondered, "So many things have ended. The structure of school is gone. We are no longer beholden to our parents, we are adults, we can do magic legally, and the mission we weren't sure we'd survive, is accomplished. We could write our own tickets anywhere, Harry, do you know that?"

"Mmhm," he assented passively, still gazing ahead.

After a few moments he stood up, turning toward the gardens a little restlessly. Her heart fluttered a bit at his well-proportioned body, distracting her. She wondered again whether it was a good idea to entertain these feelings or if she should squash them immediately.

"Like to take a walk?" He offered.

"Sure." She stood next to him, the perimeter of the grounds rustled brightly as leaves fluttered in the sunlight in every direction.

They walked past a few young teens arguing over how to fly a kite. The knotted string had become a point of contention with a younger sibling. Soon, their shrill voices were covered by the soft sound of trickling water. And the mixture of fountains and manicured shrubbery along with exotic flowers that were the peacock gardens surrounded them. A little ways down the avenue, she paused a moment to take in a particularly beautiful and large white flower.

Harry's gait slowed naturally with hers. "It's been strange not seeing you every day," he said toward the flower. "We have spent virtually every day and mostly every moment together for such a long time now," he said.

She felt his words wash over her and was unsure what to say.

"I noticed that as well," she agreed, she turned toward him. He was much nearer now, his body almost warmed her air. "Harry, I–" she breathed.

He cleared his throat. "Miranda convinced me to visit the Magical Military Division in America next week. And, I also took Rodolphus up on his offer to visit the Institute of Magical and Technological Research."

"Oh," she said, walking alongside him again. "That is excellent. Is Rodolphus the one located in the Netherlands?"

"Yeah. America and the Netherlands. Then the Blood Secret activists want me to speak in Ireland at a rally, and there was something about a professor in Germany who wants an audience with us to propose some research... The letters keep coming in."

Hermione was quiet. She was slightly jealous of all of these requests. She felt suddenly alone in her directionless mood but then remembered Harry's words of understanding.

"Do you really know what you want to do next?" she asked tentatively.

"No, it all seems like a good distraction, but I'm not sure what else to be doing."

They rounded an aisle toward a tall fountain.

"Will you come with me?" he asked. He actually stopped walking this time, he was anxious for an answer.

"To America?" she asked.

"Yeah, next week, to America."

She frowned thoughtfully for a moment.

Harry interrupted her thoughts by saying exactly what she had been thinking. "I know we've been traveling a lot, and I just want to find rest and peace, too, more than anything. But I can't find it here, it isn't working. I think the only way I'll be able to find what is next for me is to see what opportunities are out there."

"Ok," she said. "Let's go to the appointment in America next week."

"Thank you," he said quietly. "Now what about some dinner?"

"Can we just stop off at my mum and dads? I'll let them know not to expect me for a while."

Harry's hand as he reached to pour her more water from the pitcher on the restaurant table.

Harry's smile as she amused him with a silly joke about Scrimgeour.

Harry's light sweater as it clung to his arms and chest.

His green eyes. His wide smile.

It was all so familiar. He was so familiar.

They had eaten together plenty of times before. But this time, facing off behind identical menus and a small table candle, and beneath a trellis of vines in one of London's new restaurants, it was sinking in: she wanted more.

And she felt vulnerable.

She laughed nervously at something he said. Perhaps, she told herself, she was merely hyper-sensitized because it seemed like everyone else in this restaurants was part of a couple. Of course, she told herself as she was falling asleep later, that is wishful thinking.


	2. Chapter 2

"We are going to America for a few days next week," Hermione announced casually, drawing her legs up under her on the Weasley couch.

"What? Who is we?" Ron asked. He sounded a bit affronted as he spoke through a mouthful of his mum's cookies.

Ginny looked up, too, from the chair by the window where she had been reading a private letter.

"Oh, it's.. Harry and I," she stated, wondering if she should have waited for him to show up at the Burrow before making the announcement.

"What, you two?"

"Ron, hasn't Harry been telling you about the requests he is getting?"

"Yeah, I just thought he wouldn't bother to go."

Hermione sighed a little and looked out the window. Of course he didn't think Harry would go, he certainly wouldn't have himself.

"But why are you going Hermione?" he asked a little sadly, leaning forward a little and looking at her.

"Because," she searched, "because there isn't much to do here and a few of the letters requested to see me."

"Wait, more letters? And why haven't they asked to see me?" Ron said, annoyance seeping into his voice.

"A few have requested you, hasn't Harry been telling you? Honestly, what do you two do here all day?"

"Well, we uh, mostly play quidditch and chess," he whined. "But this is weird Hermione, you running off to America with him."

"I am not running off, Ron, and I hardly think it's right of you to call anything I do weird. Ever since you left, you lost any say in what I do."

"Why are you making this about us? I wasn't making this about us."

She closed her eyes and breathed in a long breath. He had clearly been possessive just now, which she chose not to point out.

Ron was sullen, slumped on the couch, his chin nearly on his chest and his eyes anywhere but her. He clearly still had feelings for her, and that surprised her a little. But she couldn't understand why since he had walked out on them weeks and weeks ago. He had left her for dead or worse, and he hadn't tried to repaired things.

Ginny shifted uncomfortably at the tension in the room and went back to her letter.

They distantly heard Mrs. Weasley open the kitchen door.

Harry's voice filled the hall as he complimented the smells that were filling the Burrow.

"How much longer until we eat?"

"Oh, just a little while longer, dear. I don't know where Arthur got off to and we are waiting for Bill."

"Smells amazing" he said, passing through into the living room.

He sat down on the couch next to Hermione.

"Hello Harry," she said, smiling a little to herself as he looked away.

"What is this?" Ron asked suddenly half sitting up.

"Wha-" Harry started.

"You getting all cozy with Hermione now?"

"What?" Harry asked. He looked around at Hermione for help, not knowing where the assault was coming from.

She winced a little and glanced up at the fireplace mantle. A few months ago this behavior would have caused her pain. Now, though, she felt only exasperation.

"Ron, what is going on?" Harry asked.

"Ask you girlfriend." He stated. He stood up abruptly and walked into the kitchen. They could hear the sounds of him talking to Mrs. Weasley, a bit of a whine in his voice. Then came the sound of the back door opening. As it slammed shut, Ginny moved into the seat Ron had been occupying.

"I'm sorry for him," she said. "He's been in a weird state all day. Ever since he got back from this date yesterday, actually. It was a girl from my year, and I'm not sure how he met her, exactly. He was happy after coming home, but then he's been, well, like this."

"If it was Harnica," Harry said, " he met her at the Quibbler's victory party. Luna managed to introduce the two somehow and I guess Ron always liked the look of her. I am a little surprised he's," Harry hesitated glancing at Hermione, "moving on so quickly."

"Well he's doing a moody awful job of moving on, if you can call it that. And, yeah, that's her all right." Ginny said.

Hermione decided to stay quiet on this one. Ever since Harry and Ginny had been reunited after the final battle, they had been living like brother and sister and behaving as old friends. Although, she had seen them kiss that first day and assumed they would finally become a proper couple, but it just didn't seem to be happening. It was the reason, though, that Hermione had shoved down violently the feelings for Harry that had been building through their journey.

"Say, Ginny," Harry changed the subject, "what did Malfoy that want night? I noticed he was bothering you. I'm surprised he even dared show his face at the party."

"Oh," Ginny said, starting a little. She folded her arms across her chest and over her letter. "He was just – asking about the fondu." She said lamely. "Mentioned, he was there at the Minister's request."

"The fondu? What a slimy git, coming out with that prophet article, I doubt Skeeter had to even embellish a word. He has changed? What a joke."

Hermione could swear Ginny winced a little when Harry said this. Was there something going on between her and Malfoy? Ginny had seen them laughing together at the party that night too.

"Dinner!" The sound of Molly Weasley's voice rang out through the house. And the three stood up.

Hermione glanced out the front window warily as she passed by, looking for signs of Ron. He wasn't anywhere to be found. If she was lucky, he'd be out chatting up women at Ale Wives, the Quidditch bar in Diagon Alley. In fact, by the time the evening concluded with no sign of Ron, she was almost ready to bet her wand on it.


	3. Chapter 3

She stood in the lobby of the ministry, trying to keep out of the way and peer through the crowd to find Harry.

A large witch clipped her with a trolley cart as she blew passed. Hermione spun around and watched cart pass, the jars rattled as what looked like brains sloshed inside behind evidence labels.

"Hermione! Over here." Harry's voice called out from behind.

"There you are Harry," she said, turning to find him at her side. His backpack was slung over one shoulder and he was casually gripping the shoulder strap. It looked nearly empty and she had no doubt he had charmed his luggage as well. She wasn't sure why, but that little act made him seem more grown up. Of course, her own luggage was charmed and resting weightlessly in her purse.

They made their way into a crowded elevator, the whole ride to the department, she was aware of him standing just behind her. They were all set to travel, and headed toward the portkey departure lounge.

Harry had come to the Ministry few days back to make travel arrangements, and apparently it was commonplace to also depart from the department. A team of specialized charmers were on-site, ready to create departure and return portkeys.

"Alright Harry Potter" said the witch at the counter as when they approached the departures office. Her bit of Yorkshire and chipper smile was instantly endearing. She looked down to pick a paper out of her tray.

"Yeah, it's me and Hermione Granger," he said, placing his arm on the counter. "Are we all set to go?"

"Indeed" she stated, "You will depart at 4, but we don't make return portkeys for America, so you'll need to visit the Department of Magical Transport in the Federal Hall of Magic. You'll find the office easily enough from within Boston's magical quarter. " The witch stamped a few papers with gusto. "Come this way, please," she motioned for them to walk around the counter. Hermione followed, folding her sweater over her arm uncomfortably. She rather wasn't looking forward to travel by Portkey, she never could get accustomed to the feeling.

"4pm to Boston." She called out as they entered a back room. She plopped a small muggle garden gnome statuette down in front of a slightly round older wizard sitting at a desk. He didn't look up as they approached, his eyes sluggishly fixated down at the statuette and the paper the witch had deposited. He had a mustache that covered most of his mouth and a small top hat that sat too low, covering most of his eyes. All of a sudden, in a flourish of concentrated energy he slashed his wand about over the gnome. It glowed a pale aqua for a moment and the giant clock that was fixed to the desk beside the gnome started ticking the seconds loudly.

"Hurry along kids," he gestured them quickly forward, looking up for the first time since they entered the room. "Just a moment to go," he said in a jolly voice.

Harry and Hermione placed their hands on the statue and stared down at the large clock fixed to the desk. The moment the second hand struck the hour, Hermione felt the dreaded pulling sensation and they were off.

They went spinning up and the ministry opened like a jack-in-the-box then folded and away below. The swirling colors of ocean filled her vision and she held on tighter. In just a few moments they had spanned an ocean and were hurled into the center of a giant child's ball pen.

Harry looked down for a moment, picking up a red ball and laughed. He threw it playfully at Hermione. They picked themselves up heavily and stepped down into what must be an arrivals hall of some sort. Four other arrival stations were situated along walls. There was a giant mattress, a foam pit Hermione recognized from her failed gymnastics days, even a magical pile of snow.

"Harry, Hermione!" A happy voice called out nearby.

Harry looked around to see a tall, bald man, bouncing with energy approaching them.

"Stan?"

"Your man! Welcome to Boston!" He said, throwing his arms out and coming in for a hug.

"Er, thanks!" Harry said brightly. When he stepped back slightly and Stan was already swooping in on Hermione.

"Awesome! Welcome to you too, Hermione!"

"Thanks," she managed to say hurriedly before Stan continued talking.

"Look, I didn't mean to ambush you at the arrivals hall, I just wanted to make myself available to you guys and give you a huge welcome state-side. We are all set for tomorrow morning. I got you some sweet digs up on Highland Park. I think you'll love it. Very great hotel, we work with the owner off and on in the R&D lab, he keeps coming back for more. Oh, and here is a list of places to try if you've never been to Boston. Don't forget to check out Muggle Boston too, the muggles of this city really know how to live."

"Wow, all right." Harry said, impressed. Stan spoke quickly and his energy was infectious, but an intense breed of infectious.

"Stan, thank you," Hermione intoned, looking down at the list. "We've never been to Boston before. This is excellent."

They were strolling out the departure lounge when Stan pointed enthusiastically at a plaque near the exit. "We won an award for this arrivals hall recently. We used to have people landing in the park until a toddler got kicked in the face. After that, the community came up with this. Morning Mike!" He raised his hand at a passing man who shot a greeting back.

The arrivals hall opened into a beautiful atrium with giant windows overlooking a square. The park was brimming with children, young couples and the elderly. Shops and restaurants lined the perimeter. Stan led the way and stopped a little out of the way of the main thoroughfares and handed over a map.

"Here's us," he said pointing down at the map, towering a little over Harry, "and this is your hotel, almost on the water! Our labs are a few blocks away toward the city center. All the better, because why should we obstruct the gorgeous ocean views with our building? Are you guys hungry?"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other.

"Not much," Harry said.

"Nah, it's a weird hour. Let's grab brunch tomorrow. In fact, I'll meet you at your hotel, say 10 AM?"

"Sure, that sounds great." Harry said, feeling a bit like a broken record but grinning all the same. "It's great to meet you Stan, I'm truly looking forward to tomorrow."

"Likewise! See you later Harry, Hermione!" He gestured back at them with his raised arm as he started walking away, his tall, bald form swaggering slightly into the crowd.

Hermione turned to Harry, "well he's a handful!" she said.

"He has so much energy! It's great, but I hope all American wizards aren't like that," he said.

The buildings surrounding the park wouldn't have looked out of place in Diagon Alley and the kids in the park were playing with toy broomsticks. This was Boston's magical quarter.

They were still standing out of the way, glancing down at the map. "Shall we go?" he offered.

"Yes." She said slightly wonderingly. "Harry, it looks like England here."

"Yeah, never thought I'd see another like Diagon Alley."

She became aware as they walked how at ease she was. The new sights and sounds, the new shop names, it was all so familiar and new. And it was all the better to be experiencing this with Harry.

Their hotel made Inns in England seem like a seventeenth century cottage. The witch at the front desk had proudly boasted the technology of the Inn to be far superior to others in the States. But it was also more beautiful than even the nicer ones in Diagon Alley. Hermione's mind was starting to open up to the possibility that a cultural revolution may be afoot. Wizarding had out shined Muggle technology for so long that innovation had hardly been necessary. But the muggles had been catching up, and surpassing in areas. Of course magic was still far superior in most ways.

"Do you think we have become complacent with our magic?" she asked, surveying the cover of a wizarding entertainment magazine sitting on the room's desk.

"What?" Harry asked, filling a bedside glass with water from his wand.

She adjusted her purse on her shoulder and sat down on his bed for a moment. She had just come in to check out his room with him. She didn't feel right to put down her bag in his space, a small rune that was her key. The witch had told her that using runes as security was inspired by muggle technology. Removing the need to place new wards on rooms between each guest.

"I mean, as a society. They are so forward-thinking here, in the states compared to England."

"Yeah, I had noticed that. I mean, the whole department we are visiting tomorrow wouldn't exist in England. Well, it does, but that's the Department of Mysteries. And it's been a century since they revealed anything new to the public. A lot of what Marinda explained to me about the Magical Military Division was along those lines." He took a drink of his water glass and offered another to Hermione.

"It's why I agreed to come, actually. These people are wizards but it is a whole different world here. It's not the past we've been used to with carriages and fireplaces."

"Thank you," Hermione said. "Thanks for inviting me and convincing me to go. It would have been worth it just to come stay in this hotel. I'm sure tomorrow will be amazing."

Harry smiled, plopping down on a chair station near the bed. The harbor view that opened up from Harry's picture window captured their gazes for a while. White sails dotted the water and the could hear the low thrum of the city.

"Well, Boston," Hermione said after a while, "let's see what you have to offer!"

The two laughed easily as the imagined themselves doing various items of the list. In the end they chose an upscale restaurant in downtown muggle Boston as Stan's utmost recommendation (as conveyed by enthusiastic circles). Some gelato, walking on the pier, exploring the heart of the city, and touring a joke shop in the magical quarter later, they were exhausted. Harry had bought a bag full of items to take back to Ron and George for them to rip off.

Their whole night went by with no newspaper reporters or admiring fans. In fact, no one besides Hermione even knew Harry's name. Harry decided he liked that very much. And for the first time in a long time, they completely forgot about Voldemort.


End file.
